Darren Wilson may resign from Ferguson police if grand jury declines to indict

Officer Darren Wilson is close to resigning from the Ferguson Police Department as a grand jury continues to decide whether to indict him in the fatal shooting of an unarmed teen.

Various media outlets, including CNN, have reported that Wilson has told associates he would resign to help ease tensions and protect his fellow officers ahead of the grand jury announcement.

Wilson shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown during an Aug. 9 confrontation over jaywalking in the St. Louis suburb, sparking months of protests.

One of his attorneys and an official from the St. Louis police union both disavowed an Associated Press story from Thursday that reported Wilson and his representatives were confident the officer would not be indicted.

The report quoted Jeff Roorda, business manager for the St. Louis Police Officers’ Association, as saying: “It’s fair to say that neither he nor his defense team expect an indictment.”

The AP indicated that he made the remarks after meeting with Wilson and his lawyers, but Roorda later asked the news organization to indicate he was offering his own impressions and not speaking for the officer or his representatives.

Even so, Roorda said he did not believe there would be an indictment.

One of Wilson’s lawyers later told the AP they never discussed their impressions of what the grand jury would decide as soon as Friday – and they actually discussed arrangements to post bail if the officer was charged.

The attorney said none of Wilson’s lawyers were authorized to speak on the officer’s behalf.

The St. Louis County grand jury is meeting Friday in what could be its final session, and an announcement could be made in the case at any time.

Wilson has expressed concern about resigning while the grand jury was still in session out of fear that it would imply he was admitting fault, CNN reported.

The resignation talks could fall apart, the network reported, based on the grand jury’s decision.